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It was breathtaking.
Corvina had never seen anything like it in her entire life. The books she’d read with castles had usually been historical romances that never had pictures. She’d only imagined and this reality far outweighed her imagination.
“We’re a fairly small university,” Kaylin began, leading them around the side towards the right as Jade and Corvina dragged their luggage behind them on the cobblestoned path, the wheels making a loud sound against the stones.
A group of boys sitting on the steps outside a tower to their left came into view, their conversation stopping as all eyes fell on the group of females.
Corvina felt her face get warm at all the masculine gaze on herself.
A natural shyness overcame her.
She’d never really interacted with men – not unless one counted the doctors – although she loved reading about them. She’d started sneaking in romance books from the library years ago to read them at night after her mother went to bed. Her mother, even while awake, had barely spoken to Corvina outside of teaching her. Books had become her refuge, especially books with men – humans, shapeshifters, or aliens – who fell in love hard and claimed their women body and soul were her favorite.
Corvina wanted that. She wanted to belong, to be loved, to be absolutely adored, no matter what happened, despite her past. She craved it so badly in her bones, some days she thought she would die from the sheer hunger of it. There was a gnawing ache in her soul and she desired so, so deeply. But she knew the books she read were fictional, and chances of her, of all people, finding anything remotely similar were slim.
Yet, she firmed her lips, shook off her thoughts, and gave a semblance of a smile to the boys who’d checked them out.
New begi “Verenmore has about two thousand students, give or take a few hundred,” Kaylin informed them, bringing her attention back, in a voice that told Corvina she’d given this exact spiel countless times before. “We’ve been around for more than a hundred and fifty years. The university was established to educate and uplift bright students who could otherwise not afford a conventional college education for many reasons. Every student here has come from odd circumstances. We fund as much of it as possible. Luckily, the Board has some of the most influential members of the society so thankfully our funding has always been covered. Some are alumni themselves. Some choose to give back by becoming professors here. We aren’t elite, but we’re very exclusive. You are a part of that exclusivity now.” While Kaylin had been talking, Corvina had counted four tall towers that they had crossed. They came to a halt at the fifth tower, one at the back, and Kaylin turned to them. “Since Jade here already knows the room, I’ll let her guide you. There’s a welcome packet for you with a map, your schedule, and the professors you’ll have this semester. Anything else, please find me. Welcome to Verenmore.” With that, she turned and left the way they had come. “Looking good, Jade,” a blonde, blue-eyed handsome boy sitting with the group on the other tower’s steps called out. “Didn’t think I’d see you here again after the way you ran off.” Corvina saw Jade grit her teeth, show the boy a middle finger with bright pink polish. “Asshole,” Jade muttered. “Let’s just go, yeah?” Corvina nodded. She didn’t know why this girl had run away but she’d been kind to her so far and she’d become her first friend. Corvina didn’t like the idea of her feeling uncomfortable. “Hey, Purple,” the same boy called out just as Corvina stepped forward, obviously referring to either her rather distinctive eyes or her sweater. She hesitated on the threshold, wondering if she should turn, especially since there was nothing else even remotely close to purple around them. Probably not a good idea to ignore people on the first day, Corvina. She sighed, turning her neck to see the boy giving her a smirk. “Be careful with that one,” he pointed to Jade. Corvina raised her eyebrows, clearly missing out on some history between the two. She moved to step in just as his voice rang out again, his words cutting through the dry air, giving her pause. “Her last roommate threw herself off the tower roof. So, watch yourself with her.”